The positive future implications of Audi's creditable Dakar debut

Audi wasn’t overselling its Dakar Rally contender when it described it as the most complex race car it has ever built. The German manufacturer had to put together everything it learned during its time in Formula E and the DTM into a package that could tackle the world’s most gruelling cross-country rally.

The hardest part of the job was preparing a powertrain based on Dakar’s new regulations for electric and hybrid vehicles. This is where Audi’s FE expertise came in handy, with the MGU it designed for season seven in 2020-21 brought in to power the two axles.

There is a full-sized petrol engine inside the car too, derived from Audi’s ultra-successive Class 1 programme, to recharge the 52kW battery. Add in many, many lines of software code to the equation and you can see why Audi thinks this RS Q e-tron is even more complex that its R18 LMP1 challenger, which was a technological marvel in its own right. 

For a car this incredibly complicated to build, you could assume that it would easily break when subjected to extreme conditions in the deserts of Saudi Arabia. But the powertrain has proved bulletproof so far in the 44th running of the Dakar Rally, something that surprised even FIA Cross-Country Rally Commission president Jutta Kleinschmidt. There have been some teething problems elsewhere, with suspension components in particular bogging down both Carlos Sainz Sr and Stephane Peterhansel, but those issues could be solved as Audi gains more experience.

The outright pace of the RS Q e-tron has been impressive too, a major feat considering it is going up against petrol-powered cars from Toyota, Prodrive (Bahrain Raid Xtreme) and X-raid Mini. It took just three stages for Audi to chalk up a first win in the Dakar and its three cars have regularly run at the front since then, even scoring a 1-2-4 result on stage eight and a 1-2 on stage 10 to see all three Audi drivers pick up a stage win each.

If it wasn’t for a disastrous opening stage in Ha’il, where Sainz and Mattias Ekstrom lost several hours at a tricky waypoint and Peterhansel broke the rear axle of his car, then Audi might well have been leading the charge against Nasser Al-Attiyah in the overall standings.

Mattias Ekstrom and co-driver Emil Bergkvist celebrate winning Stage 8 of the 2022 Dakar

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Of course, it would be unfair not to credit the driving trio for their role in Audi’s early success. The German manufacturer spared no efforts in preparing a ‘dream team’ for its Dakar endeavour, poaching ‘Mr Dakar’ Peterhansel and Sainz from X-raid Mini to lead the charge. The two have collectively won the Dakar Rally 17 times, including five times in the past six years. The team’s third driver Ekstrom is best known as a two-time DTM champion, but his experience and knowledge goes far beyond circuit racing thanks to his recent exploits in World Rallycross and Extreme E - winning the former in 2016.

Audi was never going to win the Dakar outright on its debut, even if it had rocked up with a combustion-engine car. It’s not a rally you can crack at your first attempt, as several manufacturers before Audi found out. Take Peugeot, for example, which endured a woeful outing on its return to the Dakar in 2015 and was forced to go back to the drawing board to turn the 2008 DKR into a winner.

Audi’s success could herald a new breed of electric and hybrid cars in the coming years as more and more manufacturers and independent squads gain the confidence to make the switch from the proven combustion engine

It’s to Audi’s credit that it has enjoyed a much more fruitful outing than its former LMP1 rival on its Dakar debut. The RS Q e-tron has already proved to be a car that can beat Toyota and Prodrive on its day, and consistently run near the front no matter what conditions Dakar’s stages throw at it. With the package upgraded and the technical niggles fixed, the RS Q e-tron could become a serious contender when it returns to the Dakar next year.

Audi wouldn’t have entered the Dakar if it wasn’t confident of winning it at some point, but its latest motorsport programme also allows it to test new technologies in extreme conditions. By taking the RS Q e-tron to the vast stretches of the Arabian desert, Audi has a chance to prove that electric cars can handle more than just a daily short commute to work.

That said, the RS Q e-tron as it stands now is far from perfect. It relies on a petrol engine because today’s electric powertrains are still not advanced enough to complete 700km or more in a single day without needing to stop for a recharge. But not too long ago, Formula E drivers were having to swap their cars mid-race, and now the series is on the verge of introducing a powerful Gen3 car capable of producing the equivalent of 470bhp. So, you can hope that Audi will eventually be able to eliminate the TFSI motor from the car, making the issue of range anxiety a thing of the past. 

All in all, a manufacturer-entered electric car is a landmark moment in the history of the Dakar Rally. Organiser ASO has laid out plans to make a full switch to low-emission vehicles by 2030, a massive task given that the majority of the entries are from privateer teams and drivers.

But Audi’s success could herald a new breed of electric and hybrid cars in the coming years (GCK unveiled its planned 2024 hydrogen contender last week), as more and more manufacturers and independent squads gain the confidence to make the switch from the proven combustion engine. And, having committed to the new rules in the first year of their introduction, Audi will have the first-mover advantage over its rivals.

Could Audi's success attract new manufacturers to the Dakar for their own technology development?

Photo by: A.S.O.